Holland Marble Co. expands from fabricating locally to devising a national distrubtion network

Over the years, Holland Marble Co. has expanded from fabricating locally to devising a national distribution network for selling tile and slabs as well as running a limestone mill

The Holland Marble Co. was started in 1986 with one Dallas, TX, location, which primarily focused on fabrication and installation of natural stone and ceramic tile for commercial projects.

”All of this new equipment now allows the company to produce limestone tile of various thickness, sizes and finishes from local Texas limestone and sell to distributors on a national level, with the goal being to manufacture 100,000 plus square feet of tile each month,” said principal owner Peter Holland.

“NeoLith was a great opportunity that was presented to us,” said Holland. “We were looking for a unique product and when introduced to NeoLith, we knew we wanted to become a part of the NeoLith success story.”

The company also runs a showroom where customers can view their latest stone and tile offerings.

The Omag Mill 98 CNC stoneworking center is one of three CNC machines used in the companyâ??s production process.

A GMM Axia 38 bridge saw is also used for fabricating stone pieces.

The lineup of equipment in the fabrication shop also includes a Prodigy bridge saw from Park Industries of St. Cloud, MN.

Holland Marble Co. cuts local Texas limestone for custom projects.

Hand tools are used in the shop for finishing work.

Nowadays the company’s fabrication division primarily produces all types of natural stone slabs and engineered slab countertops, cut-to-size and furniture orders and serves customers in the North Texas area.

In the residential sector, the average size of a kitchen Holland Marble Co. produces is approximately 150 square feet.

In 2014, management began the expansion of its natural limestone product offerings by investing in Italian stone processing equipment, including a stone wire saw from Pellegrini of Verona, Italy.

For the Holland Marble Co., located in Carrollton, TX, the road to where it is now hasn’t been easy. Just like most fabrication shops, the company started off small, but principal owner Peter Holland saw the path the business could follow. From investing in more machinery, to testing out new products, to taking advantage of opportunities presented, Holland Marble Co. always looks to improve its business model.

The company started in 1986 with one Dallas locations, primarily involved in fabrication and installation of natural stone and ceramic tile for commercial projects. As the business evolved, other divisions were introduced to complement the main business, which became fabrication and installation of natural stone. In 1991, the first international project for the company came to fruition when it completed a large resort hotel in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico. The company supplied all the ceramic and travertine tile, as well as slab floors, walls and countertops. Because of the scope of the work, Holland Marble Co. employed more than 60 workers in Mexico for two years. While doing this project, the company also completed other smaller hotel projects nearby the area. In the following year, Holland Marble Co. began importing, selling, fabricating and installing natural stone slabs, including marble, granite, limestone, slate, soapstone and travertine for residential and commercial projects.

According to Holland, in 2004 the company added the capability to fabricate and carve limestone elements for exterior stone facades of buildings and residences, as well as other architectural stone elements, such as fireplace mantels, columns, door casings and surrounds. Due to the increased size of workload and production, Holland Marble Co. moved from its three Dallas locations that it was leasing into one large location in Carrollton, TX, specifically designed to support the company’s operations.

“The new [facility] was chosen for its size and location,” said Holland about the 112,000-square-foot building, which sits on 10 acres. “It is located 20 minutes from Lovefield airport and 15 minutes from DFW International Airport.” In 2011, Holland Marble Co. began to diversify the business by becoming a regional distributor of a new countertop, flooring and wall cladding material called NeoLith. “NeoLith was a great opportunity that was presented to us,” said Holland. “We were looking for a unique product and when introduced to NeoLith, we knew we wanted to become a part of the NeoLith success story.” The company’s import and distribution division distributes NeoLith Sintered Ultra Compact Surface slabs and tiles in the North Texas region and supplies large commercial projects all over North America.

In 2012, management made the decision to phase out the commercial division over the following two years due to the low margins and competitive nature of that part of the business. The company now only sells finished products directly to commercial projects but does not get involved with the installations. Nowadays, the company’s fabrication division primarily produces all types of natural stone slabs and engineered slab countertops, cut-to-size pieces and furniture orders and serves customers in the North Texas area. It has a capacity of 24,000 square feet a month.

The company’s limestone mill and limestone tile manufacturing division produces slabs and cut-to-size orders from raw quarry blocks and also carves architectural limestone elements and facades for buildings and sells to stone installation companies and builders. It has a capacity of 800 to 1,000 tons a month. Recently, the company began to manufacture finished limestone tile products in various thickness and sizes and finishes that are sold to stone distributors on a national level. The capacity for tile products is expected to be 100,000 square feet per month.

The fabrication operation

Holland Marble Co.’s fabrication facility houses three CNC machines, one by Bavelloni, another by Intermac of Intermac North America located in British Columbia, Canada, and a third from Omag of Zanica, Italy. Six large gantry saws from Park Industries in St. Cloud, MN, Sawing Systems of Knoxville, TN, GMM of Gravellona Toce, Italy, Zonato of Chiampo, Italy and Marmo Meccanica of Rochester Hills, MI, are also used in the production process.

“With two five-ton and two three-ton overhead gantry bridge cranes that are located in the fabrication and main slab inventory areas, they easily support the movement of heavy materials around the warehouse,” said Holland. To template, the company uses large sheets of Energy Brace Board and also a Proliner from Prodim located in Ft. Pierce, FL, when needed. “We have the Proliner 3D and it is a great help when we need to template complex shapes such as a ramp, twist staircases or arched openings,” said Holland.

The fabrication area is also equipped with a water filtration system from Fraccaroli Balzan of Verona, Italy, to recycle all waste water and a laser scanning system by Scantech. “The laser scanning system is unique, one of a handful in the U.S.,” said Holland. “It allows the user to scan almost any object and reproduce it in stone at any size.”

In 2014, management began the expansion of its natural limestone product offerings by investing in Italian stone processing equipment, including a stone wire saw from Pellegrini of Verona, Italy; a Terzago tile block saw; a Terzago stone slab polishing, honing and leather finishing machine; a Levi Tunisi stone slab horizontal splitter; and an automated tile processing line from Pedrini of Bergamo, Italy.

“All of this new equipment now allows the company to produce limestone tile of various thickness, sizes and finishes from local Texas limestone and sell to distributors on a national level, with the goal being to manufacture 100,000 plus square feet of tile each month,” said Holland. In the fabrication area, the company primarily uses hand tools from Alpha Professional Tools of Oakland, NJ, and for adhesives it uses products from Tenax USA of Charlotte, NC; Akemi of Doraville, GA; and Integra Adhesives of Plainsboro, NJ. GranQuartz and KLZ are the company’s main suppliers.

The team

Holland Marble Co. has 42 employees, running one shift for the countertop fabrication and two shifts for the limestone cutting and fabrication operation. It also has five installation crews. Holland considers himself fortunate with the team he has in place.

“Training them on the new machinery is easy,” said Holland. “The staff is very adaptable. They also go above and beyond what I ask. Some of the staff even took it upon themselves on their own time to learn Autocad so they could help the company more.”

Because Holland Marble Co. is so diversified, its primary markets and customer base differ depending on the area of the company. The NeoLith national distribution goes to architects, commercial developers, interior designers and hotel groups. For the distribution of NeoLith locally in North Texas, the target audience is fabricators, architects, commercial developers, interior designers, hotel groups, home builders and home owners. The company’s limestone tile products go nationally to stone distributers, architects, commercial developers and interior designers, while the limestone tile products that go locally in North Texas are sent to architects, commercial developers, interior designers, home builders, landscaping companies and homeowners. Finally, their stone countertop fabrication in North Texas goes to home builders, interior designers and homeowners.

In the residential sector, the average size of a kitchen Holland Marble Co. produces is approximately 150 square feet. Some of its recent residential projects include numerous $6 to $20 million residences with stone slab floors, walls and countertops, including exterior limestone veneer. On the commercial side, the company has supplied material for Parkland Hospital in Dallas, TX; West Plano Village in Plano, TX; La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, TX; and a Marriott in Woodlands, TX.

As far as short-term goals, Holland’s focus is to get the staff more organized to handle the changes in the fast-changing company business model. His long-term goal is to become a leading manufacturer of tiles and slabs from locally sourced limestone blocks and to become a prominent distributer of new and innovative products like NeoLith that they are presently distributing.

“All of the success of the Holland Marble group of companies would not be possible without the incredible efforts of my wife, Zuzana, and our team of dedicated managers, sales people, fabricators and installers,” said Holland. “In 2010, I was fortunate to be selected by the NSF to be a member of the NSF committee that was formed to create new standards for the Sustainability of Dimensional Stone in the USA. This standard has now become a reality and is being introduced to the stone industry and will only better our industry’s image with the public, and we would like to encourage others to get involved, even if it is only on a local level, to bring our industry to a higher level of standard and accountability and in turn gain the trust and respect that we deserve from the architectural and design community as well as the end users of our fine products.”

Jason Kamery joined Stone World magazine as its managing editor in June 2014. Previously, he was the assistant editor for Pet Age magazine and a sports reporter for The Express-Times and The Exponent newspapers. Jason graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. in Mass Communication.